


Gingerbread Houses

by Eccentric_Red



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily (DCU), Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Bruce Wayne is an okay parent, Duke Thomas-centric, The word Fuck is top vocabulary in Jason's books
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22779526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eccentric_Red/pseuds/Eccentric_Red
Summary: Between the gingerbread houses, the expired eggnog, Tim and Damian constantly trying to murder each other with household appliances, and Jason’s growing list of excuses of why he couldn't attend a simple family dinner.Duke's first Christmas with the Waynes was definitely...different to what he was used to.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

It was raining instead of snowing that Christmas eve in Gotham, icing over the thin layer of snow which had fallen a few nights prior.

Despite the weather, Alfred was still determined to make it feel like the Christmases seen in the storybook.

The old butler opened up the oven to inspect the piping hot cookies, making this the third and hopefully final batch he’d need to make for the night, but Duke wouldn’t be surprised if another batch went in before the night was done.

“They seem quite done,” Alfred commented after inspection.

Duke glanced up from his phone from where he was leaning against the kitchen counter.”Right.” He passed him the oven gloves. “But do we really need this many…?” His dark eyes looked over at the other trays which had been left to cool. “I mean, how much cookies do you guys eat?”

Alfred placed the tray on the counter near the empty cooling rack. “Trust me, Master Duke, if Master Richard has his way you’ll be lucky if you get a second helping.”

The dark-skinned teen’s lips quirked upwards, sitting down on a barstool. “Yeah, Steph warned me.”

Cass casually walked in wearing an obnoxiously bright red Christmas jumper, which was two sizes too big, and took a cookie off the tray. “Thanks,” she said with her mouth full as she sat down opposite Duke. “Alfred.”

“Mouth closed, Miss Cassandra,” Alfred chided as he carefully moved the cookies onto the cooling rack. “We discussed this.”

She smiled brightly, swallowing the rest of the biscuit in one go. “Sorry.”

Duke felt a warm tug of amusement when she gave him a look. It was nice to see her again after a few months, and it was kind of surreal seeing her in a colour that wasn’t black. The whole situation was surreal when he thought about this being his first Christmas with his new…family?

His brow furrowed briefly, glancing at Alfred and then Cassandra again when he saw her fiddling with the lights on her jumper which flashed red every time she pressed the reindeer’s nose near her stomach.

The same fifteen year old girl who he’d seen over video break a drug dealer’s arm because he’d aimed a gun a little too close to Damian’s head a few weeks ago during patrol.

Surreal was too light of a word, the whole thing was crazy. It was like seeing the inside of a reclusive celebrity’s home and seeing them eat a Wendy’s burger from the dollar menu; it just didn’t look right.

Alfred sighed, a faint smile just visible on his face. “The final bit of baking will be the gingerbread men.” He dusted off his hands with a cloth. “Then I believe that will be enough for the baked goods department.”

Duke looked over at the other side of the kitchen which held a pile of even more treats; shortbread, cakes, candy canes, chestnuts. Even a basket full of oranges, and then there was the jug of mulled wine and…it was A LOT.

“Is it like this every year?” Duke looked at Cassandra incredulously.

She smiled, shrugging. “Food is nice.”

“Hey, no one’s questioning the quality of food.” Duke raised his hands. “But it just seems like a lot, we’re only feeding…uh…” He counted on his fingers, trying to keep count on who was coming to eat. 

Kate, Selina, Dick, Barbara, Harper and Cullen, Steph—maybe Jason?—then the rest of them who were already at home which meant Bruce, Helena, Damian, Tim, Cassandra, Alfred, and himself made…

“Fifteen…” Duke calculated. “That’s…that’s a lot.”

“Yes, it’s certainly a reasonable amount,” Alfred replied evenly, having already started mixing up a mix for the gingerbread. “Which reminds me, I’ve already prepared a room for Miss Brown but the bedding will need changing.”

Cassandra nodded. “I’ll help.”

“When she getting here?” Duke asked.

“Tonight,” she replied curtly. “Staying for a while.”

He frowned. “How come?”

“Mom.” Cassandra grimaced. “Rehab again…”

Duke felt a pang of sympathy. “Oh, that’s rough.” He frowned, remembering his parents in the hospital. “Is she doing okay?”

Cassandra shrugged, poking at a candy cane.

“Well, it’ll be cool seeing her,” he said, smiling reassuringly.

She smiled faintly and nodded. “Yes. Damian will like.”

Duke smirked. “Yeah, that’ll be fun.”

“You sure fun’s the right word?” Tim walked in, looking like he just got out of bed, gazing at his tablet as he came in. “He did try to kill me last year.”

Duke’s eyes widened in alarm. “Wait, what?!”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. “Not kill.” She smiled crookedly. “Just play.”

Tim glanced up from the screen. “Strangling me with my controller wire isn’t playing, Cass” he argued, sitting down next to his adopted sister.

“He tried to strangle you with your controller wire?” Duke repeated, growing anxious. “Why?”

Tim shrugged. “Because he’s a shit gamer.”

“Language, Master Tim,” Alfred chided, kneading the dough.

“Sorry, Alfred,” Tim apologised. “Anyway, he was a sore loser—which is why we now have wireless controllers…”

Duke frowned. “And no one else is disturbed by this _because_?”

Cassandra shrugged. “Families fight.”

“And he was still brainwashed by the League of Assassins so…” Tim sighed, shrugging as he plugged in his tablet to charge on the counter. “Besides, there’s bound to be some drama with all of us together again.”

“Is Kate definitely coming?” Duke asked.

“Yes,” Cassandra answered surely, taking another cookie.

“And Jason?” Duke raised a brow.

Tim’s shrugged again, face passive as he stared at the screen in his hand. “I don’t know.”

“Master Jason will be attending,” Alfred replied curtly, rolling up his sleeves neatly so he could roll the dough. “I had words with him earlier yesterday.”

“You had _words_ with him?” Duke’s mouth curled upwards, exchanging a smirk with Tim. “Well it’ll be interesting if he doesn’t show.”

“More like a funeral,” Tim commented dryly.

A few noises from the living room interrupted them.

“Damian,” Helena exclaimed impatiently. “I said hold the box.”

“I was _holding the box_ , you wench!” Came the petulant reply from the infamous spawn of the demon.

Oh, great, he was pulling out the old English insults again.

Duke sighed, what kind of eleven-year-old called people wenches anyway? How was that still a thing, even by creepy assassin’s standards?

“Damian!” And now Helena was yelling.

Duke rolled his eyes, glancing at Cassandra who was already half-way bailing from the kitchen with a plate full of cookies, and then at Tim who was pretending to make whatever he was staring at on the tablet look actually important.

Alfred sighed quietly, pausing from rolling the dough. “Master Duke, would you be so kind as to…?”

Yep, knew it.

Duke slipped off his seat. “Make sure no one dies?” He finished the sentence, stuffing his phone in his pocket. “Yeah, sure.”

“Call if you need back-up,” Tim remarked dryly as his finger scrolled down the screen lazily.

“Yeah, thanks for the support,” Duke replied flatly, walking out into the next room which was the closest thing to a living room as you could get in this place.

When he walked in there were fifty or maybe a hundred silver baubles scattered on the wooden floor near the fireplace.

Helena was chastising Damian to help her while the boy stubbornly stayed stood by the half-decorated 18ft Christmas tree.

“You dropped the box,” she snapped, carrying an armful of the baubles. “Help me.”

“I didn’t drop it,” Damian argued, scowling in a way—which was eerily too similar to Bruce—at his big sister. “You threw it at me.”

Helena groaned, burying her face in her hand. “Will you just help?!”

“Uh?” Duke arched an eyebrow, wandering over. “Everything okay?”

Helena gave him an unimpressed look. “Just great.”

“This whole thing is ridiculous,” Damian declared while Duke went to help Helena collect the fallen ornaments. “Why are we even decorating this stupid thing?”

Helena sighed, dumping a bunch of the baubles in the plastic box. “Because it’s a weird tradition which looks nice.” She gave him a look. “I’m sure the League had its fair share of weird traditions.”

“Tt.” Damian’s green eyes narrowed. “Those were traditions bound by honour.”

“And a few dead bodies along the way,” Helena commented off-headedly.

“Regardless.” Damian huffed, crossing his arms. “This whole thing is a waste of my time.”

“Then go help Alfred bake,” Duke replied, adding more of the ornaments back in the box. “He’s making gingerbread and if you don’t hurry Tim and Cass are gonna eat it all.”

A small flicker of child-like longing shone in his eyes for a second before it was masked over with a haughty sneer. “It’s an insult to eat anything before father returns,” he said firmly. “They should be busy making themselves useful before his arrival.”

And like a man on a mission, Damian marched out of the living room.

Helena rolled her eyes. “Remind me why we’re not allowed to beat him?”

Duke shrugged. “Child abuse?”

“It’s not abuse if he fights back,” she replied dismissively as she piled the baubles in the box. “And since I’m still a child…”

“I don’t think seventeen classes as a child.” Duke gathered another handful of the ornaments, getting glitter on his yellow hoodie. “Well, not if it’s a child on child abuse…and I don’t think Bruce would buy into it either.”

She smiled slyly. “What dad doesn’t know won’t hurt. Besides, if we hide the body before he gets back he won’t even notice until New Year’s.”

It sounded like a joke but he had a feeling she was being half-serious.

Duke frowned, pausing for a second to look at her. “Right…well, I’m pretty sure Alfred would notice.”

“Yeah, true.” She sighed deeply, tossing another bauble into the box as she stood up. “Oh, well.”

He picked the last couple of ornaments up and tossed them in the box. “I’ll help you finish off the tree if you want?”

Her smile grew warm, pushing some black hair out of her face. “Thanks, I appreciate it.” She picked up the box. “You going out tonight?”

Duke shrugged. “I wanted to but I’m kind of scared Alfred might murder me if I miss this dinner.”

She chuckled. “Christmas eve tends to be quiet unless some villain’s threatening to poison the air supply, or kill us.” She tossed a bauble up and down in the air. “I think it was two years ago the Joker tried to set off a dirty bomb in the mall during peak shopping hours.” Her brow furrowed. “Or that might have been the year Tim got kidnapped and had to ride around in a car with him for a few hours.” She shrugged. “It kind of all blurs together after a while.”

Duke’s eyes widened in alarm, but he quickly shook it off. “Right…” He let out a deep breath, helping her decorate the tree. “So, is your mom spending the night or…?”

“She’s spending the night.” Helena’s face scrunched up, stepping on the small ladder to reach higher on the tree. “In a separate room if dad knows what’s good for him.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Duke replied.

“Yeah, well, I don’t fancy another little brother so it better be happening,” she said, grimacing. “Damian is a demon and dad is way too old for this crap.”

Duke frowned. “He still has a few good years left in him.”

“I’ll make sure to add that on his casket,” she muttered.

“Morbid much,” Duke replied.

“What? It’s true.” Her tone turned defensive. “Batman’s not getting any younger, Duke.”

“Yeah, well, I still need a mentor so…” Duke frowned, not wanting to think about it.

He might have only known Bruce for over six months now, but they had settled into some semi-stable routine Duke liked. Not to mention it still felt like Duke was playing catch-up with everything, and having that all ripped away if Bruce just died…it scared him a little.

Duke tried to brush off the dark thoughts which kept nagging at him, and was really hoping Dick would visit them now instead of tomorrow, Nightwing always managed to turn any situation into a joke.

“Watch, he’s going to end up outliving all of us.” Duke said mostly to himself.

The smile Helena gave him made him feel like a little kid being reassured, which felt wrong since she was the same age as him. “You’re probably right. He is stubborn.” She shrugged, stepping down off the ladder. “Anyway, that’s the tree done, which just leaves a few more decorations…” Her smile grew crooked. “Which means we should have time to sneak out for a quick patrol.”

Duke considered it for a moment. He was itching to go out again, but Alfred did want them to at least try to stay inside for one night.

A clattering sounds made him look over his shoulder at the doorway.

“Titus!” That was Tim.

“Remove your hands before I relieve you of them, Drake!” That was Damian.

“Master Damian, for goodness sake, put that knife down.” And that was Alfred.

Duke sighed, running a hand over his face while Helena smiled at him knowingly.

“Okay, let’s get out of here.”

* * *

Patrolling with the others was fun most of the time—despite the constant bickering, but that kind of stuff was meant to be normal when you had…siblings?

It felt weird thinking about it like that.

Duke frowned, shaking his head as he looked over the rooftop at the city below. “Huntress?” He touched his comm. “Where’d you go?”

“Sorry, Signal,” Huntress answered back, sounding out of breath. “I went ahead downtown—human trafficking—Orphan went off somewhere else, not sure which direction.”

Duke felt a rise of irritation at being ditched. “Dude, a little heads-up would have been nice.”

“Sorry,” she replied, some laughter in her voice. “I’m used to Supergirl just catching up. Meet up in one hour?”

“…Yeah, sure,” he replied, sitting down on the side of the roof.

Getting ditched tended to be how most of these team-ups ended unless they were on a mission. Duke couldn’t really blame them since they’d learned it from Batman, hell, even Duke was starting to pick up the habit.

Still, the city needed protection and the more people out the better.

He took out his grappling hook and started to swing, falling down with the ice-cold wind hitting half of his face hard, making him smile and his chest feel light.

He headed to the Narrows where there’d be some action and help needed.

His feet skimmed against the rooftops as he swung through the city and the lights grew brighter and flashier when the adrenaline rush took over made his smile grow bigger.

It was one of the best feelings he’d known for a while, pushing away any lingering dark thoughts to the corners. This was freedom.

It was the multiple gunshot sounds which brought him back and forced him to land on a club roof nearby from where the sound had come from.

Another set of gunshots put in on high alert as he drew closer, creasing his brow to try to see the trails, and all the lights pointed to…

“Oh, shit,” Duke swore when he saw the Red Hood fighting off a group of high-tech armed goons/supervillains down in the street, trapped at a dead-end. “Intergang…fuck.” He reached for his escrima sticks. “Why me?”

There was in way in hell he was getting blame from Alfred if Jason got shot and couldn’t make Christmas dinner.

Duke bolted down from the roof and onto the top of the lorry overlooking the fight. “Need a hand?”

Jason shot a guy holding a blaster in the shoulder. “Huh?” He looked over his shoulder in surprise. “Larky?”

Duke sighed and jumped down from the vehicle, dodging a fire blast from a red-head woman in armour and wrapped the rope of his escrima sticks around to bind her. “I go by Signal now.”

Jason swerve kicked an intergang member in the jaw, sending them flying across. “Well thank fuck for that.” He shot another in the knee. “No offence, kid, if you’re gonna pick a bird name, don’t pick one that’s associated to fucking frolicking in the grass.”

Duke’s cheeks flushed faintly. “Fuck you, dude.” He avoided another blast and attached from behind, aiming for the exposed ribs of the armour plates.

“And fucking happy new year to you.” Jason grabbed the back of the intergang goons head and smashed her face into the ground.

Duke gritted his teeth and watched the two members heading his way, they were coming at him fast and their predicted moves were mixing together. They attacked at once and got in a few hits, cracking his jaw and tripping him up onto his ass.

He ducked his head and shielded his face when she blasted fire his way, the flames tickling his skin unpleasantly. Duke threw a escrima stick her way, trying to wrap it around the fire-blaster. The other goon sliced the rope of the stick before it could wrap around and the knocked Duke on his ass.

Duke rolled out of the way before they could try to burn him again and scrutinised them both and tried to trip them up against each other, moving fast and more sporadic to throw them off.

He flipped over them and saw a blaze of fire skim the back of his armour. He swerved around and threw his escrima stick when his feet just hit the ground, knocking out the woman with red-hair, knocking the blaster off-kilter and aiming the fire at her partner who had to dodge to avoid getting burned.

Duke jerked back when Jason shot the guy in the leg, triggering a scream from the goon.

“Dude!” he yelled at the twenty-something man-child.

“What? He isn’t dead,” Jason replied dismissively before taking out the other guy with a harsh punch in the face when he tried to attack from behind. “Besides its intergang.” He disarmed the last gang member and punched him with his own gun. “Fuck these guys.”

Duke sighed in exasperation, looking over at the defeated thugs. His gaze shifted back to the lorry where they’d been loading up boxes of what looked like high-tech gear and weapons.

They tied the five of them up for the police. Duke tried to bandage up their injuries while Jason looked impatient, the white lenses from his red helmet narrowing.

“You’re wasting time.”

Duke shot him a look. “You can’t let them bleed out.” He tightened the bandage on the guy’s foot. 

“Ugh…save the good-will for someone who counts—I’m gonna just end up shooting them when they pull this shit again.”

Duke ignored him and focussed on securing the bandages. When done they both headed up to the club roof while the police started to pull up.

Jason took off his helmet while he balanced a cigarette in-between his fingers. “You know, if you don’t get back in time, A’s gonna kill you.” He smirked, lighting up the cigarette before taking a long drag of it. “I used to sneak out all the time around this time of year—I always got caught.”

Duke smirked a little, removing his helmet to wipe some sweat off. “Yeah, Nightwing warned me…” He watched him smoke for a moment, knowing what he wanted to ask but not sure on how to say it. “You’re still coming over for Christmas, right?”

Jason’s eyes shifted down, inhaling another long drag. “Not sure if I’m gonna make it.” He shrugged, looking out at the city. “Lots of robberies. Lotta dealers to bust, a few legs to break—it gets busy.” He inhaled the smoke deeply. 

“Jason.” Duke gave him a sharp look. “You promised him...”

He tapped the end of the bud and shrugged again, but he looked uncomfortable. “He’ll understand.”

“Oh, come on, man.” Duke’s brow furrowed, walking over. “It’s _one_ night. Everyone’s going to be together for the first time in months—just come and eat the food.”

Jason stayed quiet and kept smoking while he avoided looking at Duke. “Things are complicated,” he told him, shifting uneasily. “Especially between me and Batman.” He looked back at him. “The last thing anyone wants is us yelling at dinner.”

“You don’t know if it’s gonna be like that…” he sighed, grimacing.

“Yes, I do,” Jason replied, giving him a sharp look.

“Look. All I know is Alfred definitely wants you there, and we all sort of…need each other, I guess.” He shrugged awkwardly. “You can keep wearing that Black Sheep bullshit loner front all you want, but they’re your family.” Duke’s throat hurt a little, growing uneasy. “ I mean, it’s dysfunctional as hell, but…they love you, man.”

Jason kept his back to him, staying silent. “…You make a living out of those speeches or something?”

Duke’s cheeks heated up a bit from embarrassment. “Whatever. Either come or don’t.”

The cigarette was tossed on the roof gravel and stubbed out with the heel of his heavy boots. “You’re worse than Nightwing. Shit.” He looked up with dark eyes. “Does everyone seriously expect me to come over?”

“Well, yeah,” Duke replied, shrugging. “Al told everyone you’d—“

“Okay, fine, I get it,” Jason interrupted impatiently, earning a raised eyebrow from the other vigilante. “Fucking fine. Fine I’ll go.”

Duke looked surprised he’d actually convinced him. “Wait, seriously?”

“I’m only going for the food,” Jason replied gruffly, walking passed. “I’ll stop by if I have time.”

Duke doubted he had a high social calendar of plans unless it was related to drug busts or breaking a few legs.

“Right well, cool…good talk.” Duke rubbed the back of his neck, and then slipped his cowl back on as Jason moved to the edge of the roof. “Well, happy Christmas.” When he looked up Jason was gone. “…I guess.” He sighed in exasperation, shaking his head. “Tsk. Is Alfred seriously the only one with manners in this family?”

* * *

The last thing Duke was expecting when he walked into the kitchen was Damian, Tim, Steph, and Cassandra building a gingerbread house on the kitchen counter while Alfred sat down with a cup of tea watching.

“Uh, did I miss something?” Duke asked, walking over.

Damian scowled up at him. “It’s Pennyworth’s idea of a punishment.”

“Not a punishment, Master Damian,” Alfred replied lightly, taking a sip. “The gingerbread house will be an important dessert piece for the dinner, and many hands make light work.”

The boy’s scowl grew worse and started muttering darkly in Arabic.

Duke blinked slowly, and then shook his head. “Uh, okay…” He grabbed a stool and sat down opposite. “Need any help?”

“Yeah.” Tim was glaring at two pieces of gingerbread he was having trouble gluing together with white icing. “Mine isn’t sticking so…”

“You have to hold it, Tim,” Steph said, brow-furrowed as she iced up the roof Cassandra was holding steady. “Thirty-seconds.”

“It’s been ten minutes,” Tim replied defensively, letting the piece fall apart when he moved his hands. “The icing’s too watery,”

Damian scoffed. “Stop making excuses for your failure, Drake.”

Tim glared at him. “Oh, yeah, well how’s that chimney coming along then?”

The broken pieces in Damian’s hands were quickly hidden under the counter. “I’m letting the icing set!”

“What did I say about yelling?” Bruce came in holding a cup of coffee.

“I wasn’t yelling,” Damian replied stiffly, glaring at Tim.

Bruce sighed quietly, looking over at Duke. “You’re back early.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t that busy.” Duke shrugged, sticking a candy cane on the gingerbread land.

“You’re ruining the scenery,” Damian objected.

Duke raised an eyebrow. “It’s a candy cane.”

“It’s destroying the composition!”

“ _Damian_ ,” Bruce cautioned.

“Done!” Steph cheered once she’d finished icing – the roof of the gingerbread house collapse. “Oh, come on!”

“Damn it, Brown,” Damian exclaimed.

“It’s not my fault.” Stephanie threw the spoon at the remains.

“Icing is weak.” Cassandra dipped her finger in the white icing.

“I said so,” Tim commented, tossing the piece on gingerbread to the side.

Alfred sighed softly, shaking his head. “I’m sure it’s still salvageable.”

“We can always buy one,” Bruce suggested, and then quickly backtracked when Alfred raised an eyebrow. “Not that we should…” He cleared his throat and turned to Duke. “Duke, when is Helena getting back?”

Duke shrugged. “She didn’t say.”

“Hm.” Bruce frowned, sipping his coffee. “I see.”

The corner of Duke’s lips twitched upwards. “You off out tonight? We could chase up that lead with the Mudwater case?”

“I already chased up the lead,” Tim said, trying to help Stephanie and Cassandra fix the gingerbread house while Damian was busy stealing parts to build his own. “It looks like someone’s trying to be Clayface 2.0.”

“Oh, right.” Duke tried not to sound disappointed or uneasy, feeling a small insecurity prickle at his chest. He caught Stephanie staring at him and quickly looked away.

Bruce nodded. “There’s a few things I need to settle, but I can handle it, so the rest of you can take the night off.”

Damian scowled. “I have my own investigations to—“

“The rest of you are taking the night off,” Bruce repeated more firmly this time, earning a glare from his son.

Stephanie sighed loudly. “You won’t be saying that when you get gassed out by the Joker or Scarecrow.”

“Or if there’s another escape from Arkham,” Tim commented, fixing the broken pieces of biscuit together with the icing.

“There’s not going to be another escape from Arkham,” Bruce replied irritably.

“Intergang is back again,” Duke commented.

His brow furrowed. “I cut off their supply line last week.”

“Well, they got it back,” Duke replied, shrugging. “But there wasn’t a lot of them.”

Bruce looked him over like he was trying to check if he was hurt. “And you handled yourself?”

“Yeah, it was fine.” Duke chewed his tongue. “…Jason helped.”

Everything in the kitchen seemed to stop the minute he mentioned him.

Stephanie and Tim stopped fiddling with the gingerbread house, Cassandra stopped eating pieces of it, and Damian looked up from his own house he was building.

“Jason helped?” Bruce repeated warily.

“He didn’t kill anyone,” Duke reassured quickly. “I mean there were guns but it was fine. The bad guys got caught. Cops came. Everything was fine.”

“As it would be,” Alfred commented lightly, sipping his tea.

Cassandra nodded. “Jason trying his best,” she remarked, frowning at Bruce.

Bruce’s frown faded after a second. “I know he’s trying his best.”

“Is he still coming over?” Tim asked.

Duke shrugged. “He said he would.”

“Tt.” Damian looked unimpressed, tossing his crumbled pieces of gingerbread on a plate. “Oh, please, he’ll probably just end up passed out in a bar before it’s even midnight.”

“ _Damian,”_ Bruce’s voice was less patient this time. “Don’t say that.”

“But it’s true.” Damian scoffed, earning a pinch from Cassandra. “Cain!”

Cassandra shot him a look. “Not nice. Stop it.”

“Can we please focus on the gingerbread house for a sec?” Stephanie implored as the roof of the house slowly started to slide apart. “I’m struggling here.”

“Can’t we just make stronger icing?” Tim pleaded, holding the roof in place while the walls wobbled.

Duke started to wonder how this had become his life. “Uh, can we just label the gingerbread house a lost cause already?”

Alfred sighed and lowered his teacup. “I suppose gingerbread cookies will suffice.”

Cassandra took that as an invitation to start eating bits of the gingerbread roof. “Good.”

Damian scoffed and scooted off his stool. “Well, this was a waste of my time.”

Tim stared at his icing covered hands. “Ugh.” He wiped his cheek with his arm as he stood up. “Sorry for the mess, Alfred.”

“It’s quite alright,” Alfred replied, standing up.

“Damian will help clean it,” Bruce said lightly.

“What?!” Damian’s head whipped around. “I am not a ser—“

“No arguments.” Bruce finished his coffee and set the mug down while Duke tried not to laugh. “Cass, you can help too.”

Cassandra scowled, narrowing her eyes at Bruce. “Not fair.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like this is a three-parter XD
> 
> God, I love this family.

So it was already dinner and Jason hadn’t made an appearance yet…but they still had the actual Christmas dinner so there was still time.

Duke poked his mash and peas, leaning back in his chair at the massive ornate dining room table with the rest of his siblings/co-workers.

He frowned, sighing when he realised that line of thought sounded way too weird. Who the hell called their siblings co-workers? Was that really even a thing?

Alfred dusted off his hands as he placed a jug of water on the table in front of the roasted chicken; this was classed as a smaller and less lavish dinner than the one at Christmas, which was ridiculous since there was still too much food to all eat at once.

“Alfred, please, just sit down.” Bruce sighed, frowning.

Alfred huffed, smoothing down the creases in his apron. “I’ll sit down when the work is finished.” He moved around the table. “I still have to check on the stuffing.”

“I can help?” Duke offered.

Alfred smiled warmly, patting him on the shoulder as he passed. “Thank you, Master Duke, but I have it handled.”

Bruce shook his head faintly when Alfred left to go back in the kitchen.

Duke looked across the table, the only people who seemed to _actually_ be eating were Damian and Bruce.

Tim was eating while his eyes stayed permanently glued to his phone; his fork missing his mouth two times in a row. Cass was casually licking gravy from her fingers while she ate, while Stephanie was chatting in-between chewing her food while Helena was listening and building a tower from her plate full of stuffing and bean sprouts.

Duke raised an eyebrow at them because…it was weird, it was so fucking weird he felt like he was in a Superbowl commercial.

“…So now, apparently I’m banned from Walmart for violent behaviour!” Steph finished her story.

Tim looked up from his phone long enough to frown at her. “Didn’t you knock someone out with Vacuum?”

“It was Black Friday!” Steph argued. “It should get a free pass!”

From the corner of his eye, Duke saw Bruce bury his face in his hand.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Helena moulded some mashed potato around the cranberry stuffing to secure it. “I punched _one_ asshole at Lego Land and apparently that warrants a life-ban or something?.”

“Girls…” Bruce sounded almost broken.

“What?” Steph and Helena looked suddenly innocent.

“Uh…so…” Duke spoke up, flicking a pea off his plate as he looked at them. “What do you guys, you know, actually do on Christmas eve?”

“Become prisoners in our own home,” Damian answered morbidly.

“Damian…” Bruce sighed in exasperation.

“I want to go on patrol!” Damian replied petulantly, glaring at his father. “Crime never rests, and I have important cases I still need to finish.”

Steph sighed. “It’s okay to take one night off, Damian.”

“But boring,” Cass chipped in, earning a look from Bruce which clearly said ‘ _please don’t encourage him’_. “Train?” She added, smiling. “Show you new moves?”

Damian’s ears seemed to prick up at that, looking over in interest. “What kind of new moves?”

Bruce visibly sighed in relief, making Duke smile.

“Cool ones.” Cass grinned and cracked back her knuckles loudly. “One pinch.”

“Ooh, show me, too,” Steph was smiling a little too enthusiastically. 

“Wait your turn, Brown!” Damian snapped, fully interested now. “Cain said she’d show _me_ first.”

Cass nodded, smiling smugly. “I will.” Then she pointed her fork at him. “But be good.”

Helena smiled crookedly. “Yep. Or you’re on the naughty list and no new moves.”

Damian scowled at her. “That list is biased and non-existent.”

“Keep saying that when you get coal in your stocking,” Steph teased.

“Tt.” He was scowling worse. “That’s a lie made up by parents encouraging stupidity.”

“Is that what you tell the kids at school?” Duke asked, half-curious how Damian was still managing to attend a normal school without Bruce facing murder charges.

“Yes,” Damian answered. “And if anyone is the villain that belongs on the bad list it’s the fat man himself.”

The corner of Tim’s lip curved upwards. “And how did you come to that well thought out conclusion?”

“Don’t,” Bruce chided him, but it was already too late.

Damian sat up straighter at the challenge. “I’ve already explained to them that even if there was a strange omnipresent man in a red suit who broke into children’s houses to deliver gifts from forced labour, he would not waste valuable fuel resources on children’s stockings unless he was trying to cause an economic crisis.”

Steph burst out laughing. “Oh, God!”

“It’s true!” Damian snapped.

Tim smiled faintly, rolling his eyes and then looked back at his phone.

Bruce was sighing again, pinching the bridge of his nose and then looking at Duke like he was the only normal one here.

Maybe he was.

Duke laughed, feeling it grow and bubble in his throat.

“You’re such a weirdo.” Helena grinned. She reached over the table and stole some broccoli from his plate to add to her tower.

“Hey!” Damian rushed forward to grab it back, but Helena swept her plate out of reach and laughed. “Give it back!”

“Helena!” Bruce snapped. “Stop it.”

Damian threw a fork at her—she blocked it with her plate on reflex, spilling the food on Tim.

“Shit,” she swore when she realised the food was everywhere.

“Damian, Helena!” Bruce’s head snapped to his son, and then his daughter. “That's enough."

“Oh, come on!” Tim jumped to his feet, his jeans covered in potato. “Damian!”

“She started it!” Damian yelled and then growled when Helena laughed. “Stop laughing!”

Helena kept laughing, running out of her seat when Damian dived under the table after her. 

“Damian!” Bruce stood up to intervene. “Helena—Damian—Tim, _no_!”

Damian threw Helena’s fork at Tim who responded with a spoon.

At least they weren’t throwing knives; Alfred would be proud of that.

“BOYS!”

And, now Bruce was yelling, trying to break up the fight when Damian tried to gag Tim with his phone.

A paper ball hit his head suddenly, distracting him from the chaos which was unfolding fast.

“Psst,” Steph kicked him from under the table.

“Ow.” He grabbed his leg, looking at her in confusion. “What are—?”

She pointed at the paper ball while in the background Bruce was lifting Damian in the air in an effort to pry him apart from Tim while Helena had keeled over laughing.

Duke’s frown deepened, un-scrunching the paper ball to read the message inside.

‘Greenhouse. 30 minutes.’

He raised an eyebrow at her and mouthed ‘ _there’s a greenhouse?’_.

* * *

How the hell had he not noticed the greenhouse?!

Duke stared at the massive old glass dome in amazement. The whole place was covered in overgrown plants near the farthest back on the mansion—the neglected region, as Alfred had named it when Duke had asked for directions.

To be honest, despite Alfred’s best efforts, the whole area was creepy as fuck, like it had been pulled straight from a Tim Burton nightmare.

It was also kind of cool though in a strange way that only Gotham could be.

Duke walked through the greenhouse under the half-working solar-powered lights that made the whole place look even greener.

There were moss and ivy crawling up the glass, tinging it grain and cocooning the place from the outside world. It was times like this when he felt like Wayne Manor was from a whole different world most people would never get to see.

“Oi!” Steph whistled, catching his attention. “Over here, Larky!”

He held back a groan. “It’s _Signal_ ,” he corrected, sighing as he walked over to her; he was next to a giant camouflage blanket which looked about the size of three king-sized beds. “You know it’s Signal.”

Steph smiled sweetly. “Your fault for being indecisive.” She stepped back further and picked up the edge of the blanket. “Now, may I present to you—drum roll please.”

“No.” He crossed his arms.

She rolled her eyes and yanked the blanket back. “Ta-da!”

Underneath the blanket was a large sheet of crinkled colourful plastic. “Uh…”

“It’s a bouncy castle, Duke,” Steph said, sighing.

“Well, it would help if it was inflated,” Duke argued.

“Yeah, I know!” Steph frowned, tossing the blanket to the side. “Cass was meant to help but she’s off keeping Damian distracted, and Helena is sneaking out again with Tim to go on patrol so…”

“They’re going on patrol?” Duke frowned.

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “They’re chasing up a lead on a case.”

“Oh.”

Why didn’t they invite me?

Duke cringed once he thought it, feeling like a little kid again.

It’s not a big deal!

Some heat rose to his cheeks when Steph raised an eyebrow.

Shit.

“Alfred’s gonna kill them.” He joked quickly, forcing a smile.

Steph chuckled. “Yep. Batman will too since he benched them twenty minutes ago.” Then she looked back at the bouncy castle. “So, I need help getting this blown up so I can give the little twerp something fun for Christmas; God knows he needs to lighten up.”

Duke’s smile grew warm. “Good plan.” He surveyed the bouncy castle. “But please tell me you got an electric pump?”

Steph smiled sheepishly. “Uh…”

“Oh, come on!”

“It was one sale!” She argued, pulling out a traditional foot pump. “Now come on, we need to be quick before the little demon grows suspicious.”

“He’ll have to walk a mile to find us.” Duke shrugged, helping her attach the pump to the main hole of the castle. “I’ve been here for five months and I didn’t know this place existed.”

“Yeah, this place is pretty much a labyrinth.” She started stepping on the pump while Duke held the tube to stop it from coming out. “And I swear the layout keeps changing…”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if it did—hasn’t it been re-built like twice?”

Steph shrugged. “Who knows—I only found out about this place because Tim showed me. He’s explored the whole Mansion twice at least.” She grinned, pointing at a spot in the far corner. “We used to come make-out over there when we were going out so Bruce wouldn’t catch up.”

Duke made a face. “Okay, that’s way more information than I needed to know.”

She laughed. “I’m giving you pointers.” Her smile grew sly, nudging him with her foot. “Never know when you might need to sneak a girl in.”

His cheeks heated up, not looking at her. “Do I look like Nightwing?”

She cackled. “Aw, is that a blush?”

“I’ll steal that pump and make you blow it up yourself,” he warned her.

She chuckled softly. “Okay, fine. Sorry.”

The corners of his lips curled, shaking his head.

They lapsed into a nice silence for a bit as the castle slowly rose up as more and more air was pumped in.

“Ugh! This is actually a workout!” Steph scowled, changing to her other foot to pump. “Damian better appreciate it.”

“He won’t.” Duke smiled in amusement. “Do you want to change over?”

“No, I can last a while longer,” She replied, staring up at the ceiling when more rain started to pelt down. “I still can’t get over this rain—last year we had snowball fights and everything.”

Duke looked up curiously. “You guys had snowballs fights?”

“Yep.” She smiled widely. “Even managed to get the little demon to take part…until he started throwing ice but…meh.” She shrugged. “At least he took part.”

“What is it with you guys always trying to kill each other?” Duke questioned in disbelief.

“Oh, right.” Steph smiled fondly. “I keep forgetting you had a normal childhood.”

Duke frowned faintly. “I mean, besides the whole freaky superpowers, yeah, I guess.”

“I guess we are all kind of crazy.” Her smile was slanted. “I get that we can be all a bit overwhelming sometimes.”

“Well…” Duke shifted from where he was sat on the ground. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re all fucking insane.” He smirked when she laughed. “But…it’s okay, and I’m okay with it. It’s just…it can be a lot sometimes.”

Steph’s smile softened. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” She stared up at the ceiling as the rain splashed down. “It’s hard being the new kid.”

He tensed up a bit. “It’s not like that.”

The last thing he wanted was them to think he was whining or insecure about it.

…Which he definitely wasn’t.

Steph wasn’t buying it for a second, pausing from the pumping. “It’s okay. We’ve all been there.” Her smile faded a little. “When I was Robin, Batman was always reminding me the whole thing was temporary.” Her tone changed to something that made Duke frown. “He’d that as soon as Tim could walk again I’d be back to being Spoiler.”

“He said that?” Duke asked quietly.

That didn’t sound like the Batman he knew…

Steph smiled grimly, sitting down opposite him. “Things were different back then.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “Batman was…things were hard after Jason died, and then Tim got injured by Ra’s, and then I got the shit beaten out of me by Black Mask…so…” She trailed off and then quickly cleared her throat. “But things are better now—which is good because Damian is screwed up enough without Batman’s drama making things worse.” Her smile came back but was tight around the edges. “Bottomline, we’re all kind of messed up, so just give it time, okay? You’ll get it.”

“Right.” Duke nodded, frowning faintly, watching her thoughtfully. “Thanks, Steph.”

Her smile widened into its usual relaxed grin. “Hey, no problem, I’m here all week!” She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “ _Literally_!”

His thoughts drifted back to her mom. “Yeah…how are you holding up by the way?”

The laughter faded quickly. “I’m okay. I kind of knew a few weeks ago she’d end up checking back in.” She shrugged. “This year was hard with dad dying…even if he was a bastard.” Her gaze shifted away from him. “Things were hard, but she checked herself in on her own, so I’m happy about that.” Her smile was warm and sad. “I’ll see her after New Year’s once the withdrawal is cleared up.”

Duke nodded, understanding more than most even if the circumstances were different.” Yeah me too…I was gonna see my parents yesterday but I didn’t.” He started to feel guilty again when the dark thoughts crept back. “I think it’s just because of the holidays and memories and stuff,” he tried to explain, picking at some moss near his feet. “I just didn’t wanna have to see them like that, you know? Like they don’t look like my parents, but they still are so it’s…”

His chest seized up when he thought about his mom and dad’s faces washed out and pale like corpses, and those messed up Joker smiles making them look like something from a horror movie.

“It’s okay.” Steph squeezed his shoulder, steadying him again. “I know.”

He smiled softly, feeling the dark corners retreat back; it was times like this which made Steph actually feel like she was his sister, even if technically she wasn’t.

She smiled back at him and the silence around them was nice again.

Then they both realised the bouncy castle was rapidly losing air because no one was pumping it.

“Oh, shit,” Steph swore, jumping to her feet. “Damn it!” She started pumping with her foot like a mad-woman while Duke hastily tried to keep the tube in place.

* * *

It was three in the morning and Duke regretted not sneaking out.

His feet were itching, something Nightwing always said before patrol, which had made Duke think he had a foot problem at first. He needed to feel that pump of adrenaline every time he jumped from a roof of missed a gunshot by an inch…

Duke scratched his back and yawned as made his way down to the kitchen to grab a snack.

Which is how he found Jason raiding the cupboards while he munched on some burnt jam and toast.

“Uh…”

“S’up, kid.” Jason didn’t even turn around, grabbing a plate of gingerbread cookies.

Duke looked around, noticing the black duffel bag on the counter next to the Red Hood biker helmet. “You know that stuff is for tomorrow, right?” He frowned when he saw him stuff a plate of cookies in his bag. “If you want leftovers, just wait until after dinner.”

“Not staying for dinner,” Jason replied flippantly, not looking at him while he walked over to the fridge. “Just grabbing some food for the road.”

Duke grew more alert, the last thoughts of sleep gone. “What are you talking about? You said you were staying for dinner.”

“Something came up.” Jason ate all the toast and then shoved some more snacks in the duffel bag. He tossed a plastic bag Duke’s way. “Brought presents though, so can’t say I’m a scrooge.”

Duke’s eyes narrowed at the plastic bag which was full of messily wrapped gifts. “Oh, yeah.” He felt some anger prickle his chest. “Just stuff a red hat on and you’re a regular Santa Clause.”

Jason sighed, not looking at him as he strapped the bag over his shoulder. “Look, I’m gonna be busy following up that Intergang lead, alright?” He grimaced, holding the bag strap tighter. “I’ll call Alfred later to apologise.”

Seriously?!

Duke’s temper started to boil when he imagined Alfred’s disappointed frown after all the hard work he’d put in and sacrificed just so they could all have something resembling a family Christmas even though they were all crazy and didn’t deserve the old butler’s kindness.

There was no way Jason was just allowed to walk in here and leave without so much as a proper goodbye.

“Yeah, not happening.” Duke made up his mind, confusing Jason. “You can’t just take food and leave without even saying hello. That’s a shitty move.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Listed, Larky—Hey, what the fuck!?”

Duke tried to snatch the duffel bag off him. “You’re not leaving.”

Jason kept hold of it and yanked it back. “Get off!”

Duke stubbornly pulled the strap. “No! You’re staying.”

“Duke, fuck off!” Jason swore, trying to wrestle the duffel bag from him, moving around the kitchen.

He stubbornly clung on, even when he was dragged around the counter. “Stop being an asshole, and just stay!”

They knocked over the bar stools. “Will you fuck off before I actually hurt you—“ An orange hit Jason in the face. “What the actual fuck!?” 

He let go of the bag, sending Duke flying into the counter, bruising his ribs. “Shit.”

“Stupid.” Cass was casually leaning against the doorframe eating a half-peeled orange.

Jason rubbed his forehead and glared at her. “What the hell, Cass?!”

Cass raised an eyebrow, chewing on a piece of orange leisurely. “No fighting.”

Jason growled while Duke propped himself back up and flung the bag over his shoulder.

“Thanks, Cass.” Duke smiled at her.

She smiled back, shrugging. “Fine.” Then her face morphed into a dark glare when she turned to Jason. “You stay. Or else.”

Jason’s jaw tightened. “Cass…”

“For Alfred,” she said with finality, giving him a cold look. “No fighting.”

There was a dark grimace on Jason’s face, but Cass didn’t seem bothered, looking back unflinchingly as she finished eating her pieces of orange.

Duke looked between them warily.

But, Jason was the first to cave, which wasn’t much of a surprise since Cassandra was fucking terrifying when she wanted to be.

Jason scowled almost petulantly like Damian. “…You guys are so fucking annoying.”

The coldness thawed from Cass’s face as she tossed the orange peel in the trashcan near the counter. “Learned from you.”

Duke relaxed a little. “So you are staying?”

“Like I fucking have a choice?” Jason growled, snatching the bag back. “Fuck you guys.” He marched passed Cass and out of the kitchen.

Duke exchanged a smile with her. “Nice work.”


End file.
